By Shamal Aqrawi ARBIL, Iraq, May 10 (Reuters) - Iraq's Kurds expressed fear on Thursday that a truck bomb that killed 15 people could be the opening salvo in a campaign to spread the chaos gripping the rest of Iraq to their region. Wednesday's blast in Kurdistan's capital, claimed by an al Qaeda-led group, has shattered the sense of security in a region that has largely escaped bloodshed since the 2003 U.S. invasion. Kurdish officials said they had received intelligence indicating Sunni Arab militants were planning to smuggle vehicle bombs into their autonomous region of soaring mountains bordering Turkey and Iran. More than 100 people were wounded when the 800 kg (1,764 lb) bomb went off outside the regional government's interior ministry in central Arbil. Ethnic Kurds, who were persecuted under Saddam Hussein but have enjoyed peace and prosperity in their autonomous oil-producing region since the war, were shocked to see firemen pulling bloodied bodies from piles of rubble. Such images are common in Baghdad and in other parts of Iraq, riven by sectarian violence. But not in Kurdistan -- where rosebushes line roads to newly-built airports, families picnic at parks and drivers get tickets for jumping red lights. The last attack that Kurds can remember in Kurdistan -- which the Kurdish government promotes as "The Other Iraq" -- killed 60 people in Arbil two years ago. Some Kurdish newspapers said Wednesday's bombing was a wakeup call. "I think Kurdistan will be targeted because the destiny of Kirkuk will be decided within a short time," said Rebaz Ismail, a 21-year old public library worker, referring to the ethnically mixed city outside Kurdistan where Kurds want to hold a referendum on its fate despite opposition from Arabs. The self-styled Islamic State in Iraq, an al Qaeda-led group, claimed responsibility for the attack and said it was in retaliation for the participation of the Kurdish peshmerga forces in a U.S.-backed security crackdown in Baghdad. Kurds are allies in Shi'ite Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's government, which is fighting a Sunni Arab-led insurgency. Kurds' aspirations for greater autonomy of oil-producing Kurdistan is viewed with distrust by once-dominant Sunni Arabs, who fear a partition of Iraq would disadvantage them. BOOMING KURDISTAN In contrast to the rest of Iraq, where reconstruction has been slowed by violence, business is flourishing in Kurdistan. Markets bustle, trade fairs draw businessmen from Europe and Canada and towering cranes dot Arbil, where Kurds and a Dubai firm plan to build a $400 million "media city". Kurdish officials have signed deals with foreign oil firms that have prompted criticism from Shi'ite and Sunni Arab nationalists in Baghdad. Thousands of Iraqi Arabs -- from dentists to engineers to brick layers -- have also made the journey north and settled in Kurdistan to seek a more peaceful life. After Wednesday's attacks, some Arabs living in Kurdistan said they feared a backlash. Some Kurdish newspapers pondered how it was possible to bring car bombs into Kurdistan without being noticed. Bashar Sabir, a 22-year-old Kurdish student, said he now felt suspicious towards Arabs moving to Arbil. "They do not cooperate with the authorities in keeping an eye on the terrorists' operations and they are not eager like us to preserve security and stability in this city so the government should stop allowing more newcomers," he said. Khaled Kamal, a young Arab businessman from Baghdad who came to Kurdistan a year ago, said he was reassured to hear Kurdish Prime Minister Nechirvan Barzani calling for tolerance. In a speech last night, Barzani said: "If their coming to Kurdistan lightens their suffering, the (Kurdish) citizens should welcome them as we have done all this time."
